Page 65 of I'll Be the One

His voice sounds very mellowed out, probably the mostrelaxed I’ve ever heard him.

“Seriously?” says Tiffany. “You’re getting a massage,right now?”

Henry slowly gets up from the bed and thanks the old lady in Korean while handing her a few twenties. The lady nods and moves to stand in the back of the room.

“Sorry,” he says. “This was kind of an accident. I was just looking for a place to hide until the people outside calmed down. I ducked in here, which turned out to be a massage room. I felt bad for using it as my hideout, so I asked for a massage.”

Even though I’m vaguely aware of what Henry is saying, most of it goes out the other ear because I’m so freakin’ distracted by the fact that I’m face-to-face with ashirtless Henry Cho. Even though it’s not the first time I’m seeing him without a shirt, it’s the first time I’ve seen him shirtless so... directly. I try not to look down from his face. I really do. But his bare chest is pretty hard to ignore. And so are his shoulders.

God, he has such wide, beautiful shoulders, I think, just as Lana catches my eye and grins.

“Okay,” she whispers. “I’m gay and I still think he’s hot, in an aesthetically appealing kind of way. Dang, no wonder this guy’s a model.”

Henry smirks, like he heard what Lana said. I wouldn’t be surprised. Lana’s whisper was closer in volume to a normal person’s shout than an actual whisper. I blush crimson.

Tiffany, though, is unfazed.

“Put a freakin’ shirt on!” she yells at him, throwing a towel at his face. “Our Skye is still really innocent!”

Henry catches it with a laugh. “Okay, okay.Butthis isn’t the first time Skye’s seen me shirtless.”

He raises his eyebrows at me, and Lana and Tiffany gasp simultaneously.

“Skye!” Lana “whispers.” “I thought you said nothing’s going on between the two of you!”

Henry grabs his spa shirt off one of the counters and casually puts it on, as if he can’t tell that I’m giving him total murder eyes right now.

“It was only one other time!” I try to explain myself. “And he was injured, so he was getting treated—I just happened to look—I mean, I didn’t...”

When I finally trail off, everyone laughs. Even I end up laughing at my failed attempts to talk.

Without Henry’s shirtless chest in front of me, I can finally think about other things. But even though my brain starts functioning normally again, I have to clear my throat a few times before I can form actually coherent sentences.

“So,” I finally say, addressing Henry. “Are you going to have to stay in here the entire time we’re at the spa?”

He shrugs. “I mean, I could probably move to a different area if you guys want to check out somewhere else. Is there a particular sauna room you want to try?” All of a sudden, he glances past me and adds, “Really subtle, guys. Really subtle.”

I look back to see Lana and Tiffany freeze midtiptoe. Tiffanykeeps her back turned toward us, while Lana turns around to give us a wave. “You two have fun! Tiffany and I are going to go room hopping.”

I can’t tell if they’re leaving so they can enjoy the spa together, or if they’re trying to set me and Henry up. Knowing them, it’s probably both.

When we make eye contact, Lana giggles. Yup, definitely both.

“All right,” I say reluctantly. “I’ll catch you guys later?”

“Yeah!” Lana says. “Just text me when you’re ready to go.”

After they leave, I look back to see that Henry’sstillstaring at me.

“So?” he asks.

“Huh?”

“You never answered my question.”

“What question?”

Henry reaches over to feel my forehead. “Are you okay?” he says, with concern that’d actually be convincing if it weren’t for his lopsided grin. “Your face is so red. I asked you which sauna room you wanted to check out first.”

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